Did the commandments Jesus gave apply to Jesus?
Hebrews 2:17 says in reference to Jesus "
For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people."
If these commandments are meant to be followed by all mankind, then Jesus would be included. This should not be surprising, as Jesus did follow The Law perfectly, in a way that had not yet fully been revealed (specifically in regards to the Sabbath and in other areas where his observance of The Law was at odds with human understanding of how it should be observed). Now, did the resurrection make Jesus no longer a man? Fortunately this one is answered as well, as Jesus appeared to his disciples after his resurrection, as a man, with scars and all. So, even after the resurrection, The Law applies to, and is observed by, Jesus.
Jesus commanded mankind in Matthew 7:1 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged." Now this is interesting because it is both a commandment and a penalty for breaking the commandment in one verse. The commandment is "do not judge." If this applies to Jesus, as a man, and also Jesus stated in John 5:22 "Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son," then what will judgement day actually look like? Another interesting piece to this is that if Jesus did suffer the penalty for breaking this commandment, the penality would be nil, for he had not broken any other commandments and therefore would have no judgement cast on him. This could lend itself to the traditional belief that judgement day will be devastating for many, because it would allow Jesus to judge without having the penalty for judgement returned upon him. However just because the penalty is nil does not mean that breaking the commandment is not breaking the commandment that he himself put forth. How then might "all judgement" look in the hands of one with perfect love, who even called us to love our enemies? I believe that John 8 gives an excellent example, a kind of "real life parable" (or as I've called it a "performance piece") for how this will go.
John 8:7-11
"When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 'Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground.
At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there. Jesus straightened up and asked her, 'Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?'
'No one, sir,' she said.
'Then neither do I condemn you,' Jesus declared. 'Go now and leave your life of sin.'"
As we see, none were qualified to throw the first stone, and Jesus' presence as one who could throw it stopped any from doing so. If they had thrown stones, they would be casting judgement; if extrapolated to judgement day, one could imagine they themselves would all end up stoned as well. Jesus could have thrown the first stone, but did not, and so judgement was not levied. All this was done for the woman prior to Jesus having made any sacrifice, so "salvation" was not in place. She did not have the choice or knowledge yet to believe in him in order to be saved from judgement, but despite this, he still did not judge her. In the same way, on judgement day, all judgement will be in the hands of Jesus, and Jesus will choose not to condemn us.
People think this notion is absurd, but that is because it is based in love, and not human logic. Much like the disgruntled brother of the prodigal son, there will be many who will not want to accept this ending, feeling their idea of justice must be served, not realizing that God's idea of justice takes precedent and had been written as such for some time (reasonably from long before this encounter, likely embedded from the very beginning). That being said, perfect mercy is not without consequences for those that it spares. As each stands condemned, and then each is forgiven, in many cases without having done anything, not even choosing to believe in the one sparing them, the full realization of one's sinful position will be known. I believe this will manifest in a variety of responses in the next age, many of which are highlighted in the parables, and will result in a feeling of justice having been served with mercy, even if specific punishment was not levied.
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